//------------------------------//
// The Stage Show 
// Story: Double Trouble 
// by StormLuna 
//------------------------------//

Several days had passed since Starlight and Spike were summoned to Canterlot and her friends had gathered at the cafe for lunch.  It had been business as usual for Lemon Hearts as she had been working on the farm but for the others, things had not been the same, especially for Starlight's best friend, Moondancer.

Moondancer had been missing her friend since the day she left.  She sighed, "You know, I can't help but wonder what Starlight was summoned for."  She became more nervous and continued, "What if Princess Celestia is making her move back up there?  What if we won't get to be with our friend much anymore?"

Her friends knew that like Starlight, Moondancer tends to have her paranoid moments but they also knew another thing, they knew that if Celestia was making Starlight go home, she would do the same with all of them.  Lyra replied, "Moondancer, I'm pretty sure if that were the case, then we'd all be going home and resuming our studies." 

Moondancer sighed, "I wish she would, I enjoyed it so much up there.  The libraries are so big and Starlight and I studied so much together." 

Most of the rest of them had adjusted to Ponyville and in the case of Lemon Hearts, she wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  She replied, "Look, I know that both you and Starlight are more studious and prefer the big city but the rest of us have grown to like it here, especially me!" 

As the five continued to talk, their discussion would be interrupted by a couple of colts who went running past their table.  One of them shouted, "Gangway, comin' through!"

This stopped their discussion and annoyed Moondancer.  She gave the two a frown and asked, "What is up with you?  Couldn't you see we were talking?"

The other colt exclaimed, "Haven't you heard, there are two new unicorns in town!"

The first colt added, "And they say that the mare is the most talented unicorn ever!" 

This brought out frowns from all five of them, but the deepest came from Moondancer.  She sighed, "Oh, and who are 'they' anyway?  Who is it that makes this claim?"

Minuette asked, "Where are these unicorns?"

The second colt replied, "They're in the town square, come on!" 

The colts' claims brought out a lot of curiosity in four of them but Moondancer was less than thrilled.  She looked off in the distance where everypony had gathered and frowned, "Oh and who is it that thinks these unicorns are so great."  She slammed her hoof on the table and snapped, "Well, they've obviously never met Starlight!" 

Twinkleshine continued to look off towards the town square and suggested, "Maybe we should go see who these unicorns are, that way we can see if they're really as great as those two claim." 

With the exception of Moondancer, the others nodded in agreement.  Moondancer continued to sit there with a scowl on her face.  Lemon Hearts saw this and asked, "Moondancer, are you coming?"

Going and seeing who the unicorns were was the last thing she wanted to do but she figured that joining her friends would beat sitting there alone.  She rolled her eyes and sneered, "Fine, let's go see who these unicorns are." 

When they arrived they noticed that there was still some room in the front row so they headed up to get the closest view.  They saw a stage set up with two cutie marks above it, one of a wand and a crescent moon and the other that looked like a half sun with books around it.  When they saw this, Minuette commented, "Those cutie marks, they look kind of familiar."

Lyra asked, "Are those........?"

Before she could say anything else, a voice came over the loudspeaker, "Come one, come all!  Come and witness the magic of The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

They then heard a male voice continue, "And the Brilliant and Amazing Sunburst!" 

Trixie threw a few smoke balls onto the stage before they entered, causing the crowd to gasp in awe.  When the five saw them, their jaws dropped open.  Minuette couldn't help but giggle, "Wait a minute, aren't those two the ones that Starlight tried to tutor?"

Lyra added, "I think they are."

In a snide tone of voice Moondancer snorted, "Yep, and yet they STILL failed their remedial magic exam, right in front of Princess Celestia!"

They could tell that the very sight of the two was agitating their friend.  Twinkleshine put her hoof around her and suggested, "Calm down Moondancer, they're not worth getting worked up over." 

The two colts from earlier were standing not far away prompting Moondancer to point her hoof towards them and grunt, "If only those two idiots knew the truth about them, they wouldn't think they are so great." 

The two began their show and Trixie began, "And now Ponyville, you may see how great Trixie really is with her awesome transfiguration spell!" 

Sunburst headed behind the stage, grabbed an apple and sat it down on the stage.  Trixie asked, "So Sunburst, what should The Great and Powerful Trixie transform that apple into?"

Sunburst suggested, "The Brilliant and Amazing Sunburst would suggest an orange!"

Trixie smiled, "Very well my faithful assistant, an orange it shall be!" 

Trixie lit up her horn, threw a few smoke balls on the stage and fired a bolt of energy at the apple.  One thing that Moondancer couldn't help but notice was that Sunburst also had his horn lit.  Through the smoke she noticed that he had grabbed an orange in his aura and replaced the apple with it.  When the smoke cleared, the crowd cheered when they saw an orange on the stage. 

Twinkleshine gasped, "Wow, maybe her magic has improved since she failed her exam!" 

Moondancer nudged her and grunted, "Pfft....didn't you see what happened?  Didn't you see Sunburst pull an orange out of his cape and replace the apple with it?"

Her friends gave her a curious look and Lemon Hearts replied, "I didn't even notice, I just saw Trixie throw her smoke balls down and the orange at the end." 

Moondancer glared at her, "Don't you see, that's how they do it!  Those smoke balls hide how it really happens because you know as well as I do that neither one of those two know transfiguration spells!" 

Lemon Hearts sighed, "Look, we know they likely have special tricks but just enjoy the show, ok?"

Moondancer sighed in disgust as the show continued.  The next thing they saw was Sunburst pushing a box onto the stage before pulling it in half, getting in it and pulling it back.  As soon as he got in, hooves came out of the bottom end of it and the crowd gasped when Trixie pulled out a saw.  Trixie announced, "And now The Great and Powerful Trixie shall saw her assistant in half and he'll be completely unharmed!" 

Moondancer knew how this trick worked but she wanted to see if she could get under Trixie's skin.  She yelled, "Well somepony better call the coroner, no way does he come out of this alive!" 

Trixie cast her gaze towards her and her friends and sneered, "Oh so Celestia's little pets have come to try and intimidate The Great and Powerful Trixie have they?  Well it won't work because Trixie is so awesome!" 

The crowd began to talk to themselves over Trixie's defensive nature when it came to Celestia's students.  One pony asked, "Trixie, why do they bother you so much?"

Trixie said, "They don't bother the Great and Powerful Trixie, they just don't like......."

Moondancer laughed, "So Trixie, do you want to tell them about how you two failed your remedial magic exam or should I?"

The crowd gasped and Trixie replied, "They lie because they don't like The Great and Powerful Trixie!  The Great and Powerful Trixie has never failed at anything!"

Sunburst added, "And they don't like The Brilliant and Amazing Sunburst either." 

Moondancer rolled her eyes and they resumed their stage show.  Trixie lowered her saw and began to saw Sunburst in half.  The crowd gasped and looked on in awe as Sunburst was not showing even one amount of discomfort.  Moondancer looked around and she couldn't believe what she was seeing.  She noticed that the ponies actually believed this was happening.  She put her hoof to her forehead and grunted, "Ugh, how can they fall for this?"

Twinkleshine nudged her and whispered, "They probably know how the trick works but they're just playing along and enjoying the show."

The crowd gasped when Trixie pulled the box apart and they saw the top half of Sunburst in one end of it and his hooves hanging out of the other end.  The five knew how the trick worked but two definitely didn't, Snips and Snails, the colts who told them about the two.  Snips gasped, "Wow, that is amazing."

The crowd continued to look on in awe as it appeared that Sunburst was cut in half until Trixie put the box back together and Sunburst pulled himself out of it.  The crowd cheered seeing that he was indeed unharmed and all Moondancer could do was sigh in disgust.  

After thirty more minutes and a couple more stage show tricks, Trixie ended the show and the crowd began to disperse.  A few ponies hung around to see if they could perhaps meet Trixie and Sunburst but Moondancer was not one of them.  Unlike her friends who wanted to stay and see if Trixie had perhaps improved, Moondancer stormed off towards their apartment as talking with Trixie was the last thing she wanted to do.